They had no right to win.Yet they did, and in doing so they changed
the course of a war …even against the greatest of odds, there is something in
the human spirit—a magic blend of skill, faith, and valor—that can lift men
from certain defeat to incredible victory.

Walter
Lord, Author

Introduction

Anyone with experience in close
combat knows that in the face of the paralyzing fear that it brings not all
soldiers, sailors, or airman acquit themselves with the same degree of inner
strength.This is not just a phenomenon
of wars past.By one recent account from
Iraq, American land forces
have conducted in AnbarProvince alone over two
hundred firefights within the confined rooms of concrete houses.In contrast, in Vietnam
during the Tet Offensive of 1969 at the height of the urban battle for Hue, the Marines
conducted only two confined firefights of such intensity.[1]

Today the outcome of such close
combat is still determined as it was in ages past, by the will, courage, and
perseverance of the stronger combatants and the society they represent.To prevail, Army leaders need to be
individually strong of spirit, called to their professional service, and
fortified by the support of the American people.Not withstanding the advantages of modern
high-tech warfare, we see no chance of this fact changing in the future.And neither did those who recently redesigned
the developmental processes for the cadets at West Point.

Americans also accept this fact,
taking care to enshrine it in their most prominent war memorials.The epigraph above recounts for all visiting
the new National WWII Memorial in WashingtonDC that the Battle of Midway
would have been lost save for the indomitable spirit those who fought
there.The inscription by Walter Lord
makes clear that they not only won the battle, but also changed the course of
history in the Pacific theater of that war.On the other side of the Memorial’s ellipse where the war in Europe and
the Atlantic is portrayed is an inscription
for “Huertgan.”During the Battle of the
Bulge fought in that forest, other Americans in the 101st Airborne Division—men
of equally indomitable spirits held out against overwhelming odds even as other
divisions on both their flanks crumbled under the harshness of freezing
blizzards and the German Army’s winter offensive.

Today, the Army expects all of its
Soldiers, and particularly its officer leaders under Commission, to manifest
the Warrior Spirit and to adhere to the demands of the Warrior’s Ethos:

As noted in the inscription at our
nation’s newest memorial, this ethos reflects accurately the expectations of
the society the Army Profession serves.In turn, the Academy is vitally concerned with how best to instill such
an indomitable, winning spirit in its graduates, a goal pursued by the various
developmental activities cadets experience over the forty-seven months they
prepare to receive their Commission to lead.And for most, one of those activities is hearing and reflecting on the
moral precepts within the Cadet Prayer.

But, from the time in 2002 when the
two additional domains of development—spiritual and social—were added to the
Academy’s Cadet Leader Development System (CLDS), the challenge has been to
create among cadets and their faculty mentors a common understanding and
language for development within these new domains.Simply stated, human spirituality is a topic
with which many Army Officers simply are not familiar, particularly as it relates
to leader development.Regardless of its
central role in sponsoring a warrior ethos in the combat zone, it is fair to
say that the topic is seldom seriously addressed, even in Army schools.All too often this is because of concerns
that it might be misinterpreted as institutional support for religious
spirituality with any number of church-state issues attached thereto.Thus, currently neither the Army nor the
Academy has such language or other tools of pedagogy for the development of the
human spirit.

But it is
not just within the Army Profession that understanding of the human spirit is
needed.A journalist who recently
interviewed the parents of the first NavalAcademy female graduate to be killed
in Iraq,
Marine Major Megan McClure, was at a loss for words to explain what he learned
from her parents.When he offered
condolences, Megan’s mother replied that “she had died doing what she believed
in and that’s a great gift.”The
journalist continued:

There’s an incredible eloquence and
depth in these words….there are certain irreducible elements in a person’s
essence that cannot be separated out and conveniently lent to arguments over
politics and war.One of the irreducible
elements of Major McClure’s life was her belief in the cause, her dedication to
the mission.That’s military talk that a
lot of people don’t understand, but it’s a point of view that should be draped
in honor.I’m not talking about medals
or other trappings, but in the honor of being true to one’s self.[3]

In this paper, then, we seek to
explain what the journalist labeled “military talk” by presenting very briefly
a proposed framework to further understanding of human spirituality and what it
means to “be true to one’s self.”This
will enable cadets and their faculty and staff mentors to discuss their own
development in these newly defined domains.To do that and to seek parsimony, we much narrow the topic of the human
spirit very quickly and decisively.

Narrowing the Topic

Obviously, the human spirit is an
immensely broad subject.The etymology
of the word spirit indicates a source in the Latin, spiritus, meaning
breath, later moving to the English language via the Old French, espirit, from
which we use esprite-de-corps to mean the élan or spiritedness of a
military organization.[4]The spirit has traditionally been understood
to be the animating force, or the energy within, living beings.It has therefore been strongly linked with
the very occurrence of life, distinguishing a living from non-living
person.As such, it has perhaps been as
much discussed and written about as any subject since antiquity!

We could start by reading Plato’s
allegory of the cave in Book VII of The Republic.Or, we could skip centuries of writings and focusing
only on the Western world start within modernity with the nineteenth and
twentieth century philosophers, such as Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and
Heidegger.Or we could go to the
disciplines of sociology and psychology and pursue thoughts from the same era
by Mannheim,
Freud, and Jung.

We need not range so far afield,
however, because the subject of the human spirit and its role in mortal combat
has been revived much more recently within the Army’s own professional
literature.There one well-respected
soldier-scholar concludes that the U.S. Army, at least since WWII, has
proceeded under the following hypothesis: “….that all soldiers have human needs
and most have spiritual needs broadly defined, and that converting these needs
into strengths of will and character is an important part of combat
leadership.”[5]

Thus the Army Profession has
historically considered it important to understand how soldiers could
persevere, as at Midway and the Battle
of the Bulge, under the direst and most frightening circumstances to produce
victory in battle when all rational calculation seemed to indicate that defeat
should have occurred.And what the
profession has learned is that soldiers’ who have strong, indomitable spirits
can face the unimaginable dangers, horrors, and hardships of combat and still
persevere to complete the mission.[6]Indeed, it is the spirit that drives soldiers
to self-sacrifice and to prevail.This
determination can be contrasted across armies, for example to the Iraqi
soldiers during the first Gulf War who lacked such spirit and calling and whose
readiness to surrender caused their lines to rapidly fold, leading to a swift
defeat.[7]

A leader’s spirit provides purpose,
direction, the will and courage to determine and do the right thing in the very
complex and chaotic environment of combat where life, death, and strategic
interests of the country hinge on the leader’s decisions.[8]Leaders who nurture their own and their
followers’ human spirit are strengthening and preparing their soldiers to meet
the harsh rigors and stresses of combat, enhancing the combat power of their
unit, promoting the growth of their followers as humans, and helping protect
soldiers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other pathologies.[9]In its published doctrine, then, the Army has
recognized the critical importance of developing the human spirit,
incorporating it, among other places, into its Well-Being Plan.[10]

In the sections that follow in this
paper we will offer a conception of how the human spirit is developed,
including a model that explicates the domain of the human spirit, discuss how
innate human needs drive the development of the human spirit, and discuss how
one’s spiritual development is experienced and manifested.

In doing so, we simplified the
complexity of spirituality to establish a common framework; one that can be
implemented and utilized across various belief systems.We recognize some limitation to this model as
it may relate to any specific belief system, but do hold that this framework
represents a basic model of many of the core, innate processes that develop a
leader’s spirit.We acknowledge that
some individuals, such as those whose moral quest in based on a specific
religious faith, may find this model insufficiently complete to encompass their
full definition of spirituality.We
believe, however, that it is a model to which they can build in additive
fashion, thus accommodating it to their own beliefs.

The reader will find that, once rightly understood, development of the
human spirit is thoroughly manifested in who we are now and who we seek to
become; and, as such is also manifest in most of our thoughts and actions.In other words, it is our evolving human
essence, from which we cannot divorce ourselves; it will always be an integral
part of our being, our actions and our social interactions.

A Definition of the Domain of the Human Spirit

Returning to the definition offered
earlier, spirit is defined as, “the vital animating force within living beings;
the part of a human being associated with mind, will, and feelings; and the
essential nature of a person.”[11]According to this definition, the human
spirit influences how one thinks, acts, and feels about life. Thus, the
development of the human spirit should form the cornerstone of any leader
development program.

To advance our understanding of how
the human spirit develops we revisited the literatures of humanist psychology
and human spirituality.The humanist
psychologists view such development in terms of realizing one’s full potential
or self-actualization.To do so people
must determine their purpose in life, discover who they truly are, and develop
the strength to move away from the expectations of others to pursue activities
that will develop the true or authentic-self.[12]Similarly, scholars of spirituality,
particularly in college students, view individual spiritual development as the
inward quest or journey to find one’s identity, purpose, meaning, truth about
the world and life after death, and how to live a life that matters.[13]Integrating the concepts from both
literatures, we offer the following definition of the development of the human
spirit:

It
is an individual’s search to find:

·one’s
true-self in terms of core values and beliefs (character);

·meaning
and purpose in life to make a difference and thus to make life worth living;

·truth
about the world, enlightenment;

·relationships
that bring fulfillment, and

·the
autonomy to pursue activities to realize one’s full potential.[14]

Psychological Components of the
Domain of the Human Spirit

To discuss the development of human
spirit, we focus on identifying the psychological structures and states that
comprise an individual’s spirit.Common
themes found in both literatures were the following:

·To develop the spirit one must engage in
self-reflection and introspection, thus self-awareness is critical.

·Increased self-awareness allows one to solidify
their values and beliefs system (character), which forms the foundation of
their personal philosophy or world-view.

·One’s evolving world-view is used to determine
truth and make meaning out of experiences.

·Spiritual development is the individual’s
responsibility.

·One must develop social awareness (empathy and
respect) to understand others’ emotions and viewpoints in order to establish
positive relationships and further refine one’s world-view.

·An individual must have a strong conviction
(faith) that living according to one’s values and beliefs and striving to
realize one’s potential will lead to a fulfilling and satisfying life.

Since the development of the human spirit is universal and
occurs in all cultures,[15]
we accept Abraham Maslow’s proposition that innate human needs drive the
process.[16]We will return to a detailed discussion of
how such needs do so after we present a model of the domain of the human
spirit.

We propose that the domain of the
human spirit consists of the psychological components as depicted in Figure
2-1: aworld-view,self-awareness,
a sense of agency, social awareness, and faith.These components are interrelated and their gestalt fosters the growth
of the human spirit.We believe that an
understanding of these components and the relationships between them can
facilitate cadets’ journeys toward spiritual development while also providing
leaders and mentors insights as to how best to contribute to or otherwise
facilitate these searches.

But before we proceed, we need to
clarify the semantic difference between the human
spirit and the complementary terms spiritual
and spirituality.While we view the former as a product the
essence of which evolves over time, the latter can be viewed as a process or an
orientation.Specifically, the human
spirit is a leader’s current state as it relates to the components of the
framework in Figure 2-1.At any point in
time a leader has a certain level of agency, faith, self-awareness, and social
awareness.Spirituality, then, can be seen as a leader’s orientation to pursue
development and enlightenment within the domain of the human spirit.The term spiritual
also describes the developmental processes that leaders pursue to enhance
the elements of the human spirit denoted within the diagram.Indeed, such development is a spiritual
process and requires a leader to possess adequate spirituality to imbue the
seeking of growth in these areas.Thus,
spirituality can also be described as the process defined by the interactions
between the components of the model, as denoted by the various bidirectional
arrows.

We turn now to a description of
each of the components:

World-View.A person’s world-view can be understood as
the lens through which one views the world.It is an individual’s personal life philosophy that is used to make
meaning out of experiences and to provide direction and purpose in life.[17]This complex cognitive framework determines
what one attends to, how one interprets information and events, the knowledge
and experiences one seeks out, and how one behaves.[18]Not static, but dynamic, a person’s
world-view actually influences every aspect of their current life and future
goals.Thus, a person’s world-view is
the foundation upon which the development of the human spirit rests.

This
cognitive framework contains at any point in time an individual’s collection of
knowledge and assumptions about how the world operates, truths about the world
based on learning and experiences; a system for determining truth and meaning,
values and beliefs that one should live by; a vision of a life worth living by
making a meaningful contribution; reflections on one’s mortality; and, beliefs
about what comes after death.[19]Individuals continuously refine and develop
their world-views through the learning of new knowledge, reflection on their
own and others’ experiences, introspection on their values, beliefs, and
meaning-making system, and by discussing with others topics about their human
essence.

World-views are largely shaped
through the socialization processes of the mediating institutions of family,
school, and church, among others.Parents’ childrearing techniques, the community’s cultural expectations,
educational and life experiences, and religious or philosophical practices all
play a role in the development of the early world-view of children.The cornerstone of a person’s world-view, as
depicted in Figure 2-1, is one’s values and beliefs system or character.This system defines who the person is, what
the person stands for, serves as a guide for determining behavior—especially in
ambiguous and chaotic situations—and also provides the courage and will to act
in accordance with one’s beliefs and values.[20]For most people, adolescence is the time they
begin their struggle to discover their own identity and character and to
establish themselves as independent and unique individuals.[21]Thus, the college or post-high school
experiences are critical periods in which to establish coherent and soundly
evolving world-views.

From the military perspective, the soldier’s
character provides the physical courage to fight in close combat and the moral
courage to act in accord with, and to enforce, the profession’s ethics.One of the main insights that Lord Moran
offers in his classic book, The Anatomy
of Courage, is that, “a man of character in peace is a man of courage in
war.”[22]A strong sense of character provides a person
with a sense of continuity and stability in one’s day-to-day life.[23]It is here that the moral precepts of the
Cadet Prayer resonate by pointing as a moral compass to future behaviors that
all officers must exhibit—e.g., “make me to choose the harder right over the
easier wrong and never to be content with a half-truth when the whole can be
won.”In Chapter 4, we will propose and
discuss in some detail a model for how to develop one’s values and belief
system, world-view, and sense of moral agency.

Finally, in the interpersonal realm
an officer’s world-view is central to their leadership as it provides the
cognitive lens through which they experience and make meaning of their and
their followers’ experiences.It is this
ability to make meaning and communicate that meaning to their followers’ that
enables them to provide purpose, motivation and direction amid the stress of
combat.

Self-Awareness.Reflection and introspection
are the processes individuals use to enhance development of their human
spirits.[24]Through reflection and self-examination
people gain insights into life’s most informing questions, such as: who am I,
what is my purpose in life, what is a life worth living, who do I want to
become, what can I believe in, how do I live a life that will make a
difference, and how can I be happy?[25]Answers to these pressing introspective
questions help form and shape one’s world-view and identity.

Indeed one cannot separate their
own self-concept from their concept of the external world.The self-concept is in fact an idiosyncratic
“construct” a leader develops over their life-span as they interpret and encode
their personal experiences into memory.[26]In essence leaders learn who they are as they
interact with and receive feedback from their social environment.It is through dedicated reflection about
these experiences that the self with its human essence become “known” to the
individual. We argue that in as much as
leaders’ developmental experiences contain elements of the spiritual, the more
they reflect on these elements the greater will be the growth of their own
human spirit.This drive for reflection
and self-awareness—to know oneself—is part of one’s spiritual orientation, a
part of their spirituality.

Reflection and introspection also
allow people to make sense out of their own and others’ experiences and in the
process to create new meaning or knowledge, and to help organize and integrate
the content of their world-view schemas.Therefore, everyone, especially young adults, should set aside time for
reflection, much in solitude, to gain insights on their inner lives.Individuals can use various activities as
opportunities to facilitate reflection and introspection: trail running,
journaling, sitting in a quiet location, writing a paper on a topic that
requires introspection, listening to music, walking, hiking, meditating,
biking, dancing, rock climbing, praying, skiing, skydiving, participating in a
retreat, watching the sun rise or set, and lifting weights.[27]The type of activity or venue is not
important, the keys are solitude and quiet time to reflect and assess one’s
inner life.

These periods of reflection and
introspection provide people with the ability to question and evaluate
components of their world-views which were mostly shaped for them through the
early socialization and learning processes.It is through continuous reflection and introspection that individuals
gain the ability to step beyond those world-views influenced by parents or
society and to self-author their own unique world-views.[28]These processes of enhancing self-awareness
provide leaders with a greater understanding of who they truly are, who they
want to become, how to determine truth and meaning, and how they should lead
their lives.All of this promotes the
development of their world-view schemas.Therefore, it is through self-awareness that people gain the ability to
chart and focus their quest to develop their human essence.

Such
spiritual self-awareness is critical to leadership.Before they can provide value-based
leadership and facilitate idealization and inspiration in others, leaders must
have a firm grasp on who they are, what their core values and beliefs are, and
their self-concept as it relates to their role as a leader.During times of combat, a leader’s
self-concept will be challenged as their values, beliefs, needs, and other
elements of the self will be strained to make meaning of and reconcile the
horrors of warfare.It is only the
self-aware and resolute leader who can operate effectively under such
challenges andprovide the “moral
compass” for their followers’ actions.

Sense
of Agency.The development of the
human spirit is an active, dynamic, and very personal journey that the
individual owns.Agency involves
assuming ownership or responsibility for one’s own spiritual development and a
sense of confidence that one has the ability to successfully guide this
developmental quest.Individuals who
assume responsibility for such development and actively engage in activities
that foster the growth of their spirits tend to live satisfying and content
lives.[29]Those who fail to take responsibility for the
development of their human spirit are forced to live with the world-views that
society shapes for them, which can cause extreme psychological distress.

A sense of agency empowers people
to reflect, evaluate, and self-author their own world-view.It provides the autonomy or independence of
thought to chart their own path for the development of their spirit and to
start stepping away from the expectations of others.[30]In a sense, such agency provides them with
some control over their own destiny.Individuals with a sense of agency will actively seek out activities
that acquire new knowledge, create new experiences that reinforce or challenge
one’s existing world-view, and promote self-reflection and introspection in
order to develop and strengthen the human spirit.[31]These empowered individuals will demand the
freedom to develop their spirit in the way they see fit.Freedom of thought and action are necessary
conditions for one’s sense of agency to grow.[32]

Educational institutions, the
Academy included, can better facilitate their students’ sense of agency by
providing access to various resources:a
broad curriculum that exposes students to topics on the human
spirit—comparative philosophy and courses about religions—libraries that are well
resourced with diverse materials, multi-faith and multi-philosophical forums
for exchanging ideas, opportunities for community service, quiet places for
reflection, and physical fitness facilities that offer a wide variety of
athletic pursuits.[33]Perhaps most importantly, they should also provide
faculty who are able to aid students in their journeys regardless of the path.[34]Educators can also give writing assignments
such as essays or journals that require students to reflect and evaluate the
content of experiences as they relate to their world-view.Such faculty should encourage and respect the
free exchange of questions and ideas relating to the human spirit in the
classroom as students learn of the world beyond their own experiences.[35]

However, educational institutions
and faculty must keep in mind that spiritual development is an individual
journey; therefore, they must be very careful not to promote one path of
spiritual development over another.They
should recognize that a majority of college students will use religious
practices as a primary, but perhaps not sole, vehicle to develop their
spirits.A national study conducted in
2003 by the University of California found that over two-thirds (74,073) of the
112,232 college freshmen surveyed sought some sort of religious practice to
develop within the domain of the human spirit.[36]Other students may anchor the development of
their spirit in the pursuit of various philosophies.Students will more than likely use a
combination of activities to promote the development of their spirit. The important point is that the willingness of
institutional leaders to provide freedom, resources, and activities to
facilitate the journeys of all students does enhance the students’ sense of
agency.Conversely, without such
institutional support the growth of such agency can be thwarted.

Social
Awareness (empathy and respect).Social awareness is important to the development of the human spirit
because without respect and empathy a person will have trouble forming
connections with other people and ideas and, in turn, this will hinder the
ability to form new relationships and to gain new knowledge about diverse
cultures and ideas.Without such
experiences there can be little broadening or refinement to one’s world-view.

Thus, the quest to develop the human spirit
requires people to develop the social skills necessary to establish positive
relationships with others.Respect for
others is the first social skill one must develop.Respect is simply recognizing and
acknowledging that others have the right to hold different values, beliefs, and
customs and that one must, without giving up one’s own beliefs and values, show
them due consideration and be open to learn from alternate views.This form of toleration is bedrock to
democratic pluralism, the Constitutionally founded form of government that the
Army Profession defends.Respect also
entails the ability to appreciate others and their beliefs, without immediately
judging them as being inferior because they differ from one’s own.Showing respect for others’ views
communicates that they are acknowledged, valued, and accepted as humans, which
sets the conditions for positive interactions and learning from each other.[37]

Moreover, to truly understand
others an individual must have the empathic ability to place oneself in the
shoes of others and view the world through their lens.Social-awareness enhances empathy by
increasing the person’s capability to recognize emotions in others.[38]Empathy allows one to see the situation as
others see it, to feel the emotions that others feel, and to experience the
motivational forces that compel behavior as others experience these forces.[39]This is a daunting challenge for all for
us!But a person can use these insights
into others’ perspectives to expand and refine one’s own world-view and to
develop positive relationships that communicate understanding, acceptance, and
care for others.[40]

Such social awareness is central to
effective military leadership.We discussed
at the beginning of this chapter the importance of the human spirit in facing
the perils of combat while behaving within the demands of the warrior
ethos.To be able to do so, leaders must
be aware of, accepting of, and able to leverage and draw upon the diversity of
their followers’ inspirational motivations, their human spirits.Indeed, we suggest that such leadership
should be seen and valued as a form of unit combat power.

Faith.Faith is defined in Webster’s Universal Encyclopedic Dictionary as
“something that is believed especially with strong conviction; allegiance to
duty or to a person; a firm belief in something for which there is no proof;
complete trust; or fidelity to one’s promises.”Such faith is critical because it provides the direction and will to
persist in the continuous, often arduous, journey of life and the trust and hope that the journey will produce a life worth living.

Simply stated, faith is what keeps us
going, and it is defined by the object in which we place such hope for a
successful, meaningful life.For many
Soldiers and cadets such faith will be grounded primarily in one of the world’s
religions, but that is personal choice simply to be respected by all.And not all individuals will so choose; as
mentioned earlier, many college-aged individuals place their faith in several
objects at once during the intense interactions between higher education and
spiritual awareness and growth.

For the purposes of this
discussion, then, the kind of faith that we are interested in is intrapersonal,
it is a person’s confident belief in and commitment to a life-long quest to
develop and to live in accordance with one’s values and principles—to be true
to self as was Major Megan McClure.Otherwise, what motivation wills us to live and strive, or even more, to
serve others?As the epigraph to this
chapter reminds us, such faith was an element evident in the indomitable spirit
of those who won the Battle of Midway.

At theintra-personal level, then, such faith
provides a strong sense of conviction or expectancy that living by one’s own
values and principles; continuously refining knowledge of the inner-self
through reflection and introspection; striving to develop one’s full potential
by seeking out new knowledge and experiences; working for noble pursuits that
have a positive impact for others; developing positive relationships with
family, friends, and associates; and, appreciating and respecting others will result in enjoying the experiences
of truth, happiness, fulfillment, and if one so believes, other non-worldly
rewards such as eternal life.

Thus, the kind of faith we are
addressing here keeps the person stepping forward to develop their essence, to
seek truth, and to do well in the world because they firmly believe that it is
the right thing to do.

For the Army Officer in particular,
such faith works in the same way except that it does so within the context of
the profession’s service to the American people.Such faith provides officers the courage to
behave according to one’s values and principles and the profession’s ethic in
the face of bureaucratic pressures to do otherwise; to seek growth experiences
that stretch capabilities instead of “playing it safe” with the next
assignment; to explore and understand new cultures despite initial discomforts;
to engage in self- reflection and introspection even when it is painful; to
join a noble and prosocial profession such as the Army instead of pursuing financial
wealth; to focus on the good in the world when the info-media focuses on the
negative; and to continue to strive to have a positive influence when others do
not seem to value or appreciate one’s efforts.

In sum, we suggest that these five
components, as diagramed in Figure 2-1, provide the needed model for
understanding the domain of the human spirit.With this model explained, we now turn to a discussion of the innate
human needs that drive the processes within the model.

Innate Human Needs and the
Development of the Human Spirit

As we
mentioned earlier, people from every culture are engaged in the quest to
develop their essence, so it is logical to accept the hypothesis that innate
human needs drive the development of the human spirit (see left side, Figure
2-1).In his theory of human motivation,
Abraham Maslow proposed that the following hierarchy of basic human needs, from
lowest to highest, drive the development of the human spirit:

It is in striving to satisfy these
innate needs that the development of the human spirit occurs.According to Maslow’s theory, lower level
needs must be satisfied before a person will experience the motivation to meet
higher order needs.If an individual is
working to satisfy higher order needs and a lower order need is threaten, the
person will re-direct efforts to meet the lower order need. [42]So we turn now to a discussion of how an
individual’s striving to meet these needs contributes to the development of the
psychological structures and states that we earlier posited comprise the domain
of the human spirit.

Need
for Safety.Beyond survival, a
person’s need for safety compels them to develop world-views or personal life
philosophies to be able to understand and predict the environment around
them.We see two aspects of the safety
need:physical and psychological.The physical aspect of the safety need is met
when people feel safe, secure, and protected against threats from criminals,
nature and its disasters, and anything or anyone who could do them harm.We cannot imagine a physical context wherein
this need is more salient than that of combat.From the psychological aspect, people feel safe when they have a means
to organize the world into an orderly and predictable manner so that
unexpected, unmanageable, and dangerous things are less likely to happen.Thus, they seek innately a sense of control
over the events of life.[43]

A leader gains a sense of control
over such events through the establishment of the world-view schema, enabling
prediction and sound expectation as to what is coming.As stated earlier, this schema contains
knowledge and assumptions about how the world operates, a values and beliefs
system, ideas about one’s role or purpose in the world, and a vision of who the
person is striving to become.Thus, a
world-view schema provides the ability to reasonably predict future situations,
how others will act and how they will react, providing a sense of control and
predictability in life.

Need to Belong and Be Loved.The innate affiliation need manifests itself
with the desire to connect to something, or someone, outside and more powerful
than the self.The key to meeting this
innate need is the individuals’ ability to transcend self and subordinate their
own self-interests.This transcendence
involves the humbling realization that one is but a small actor in the universe
and that a connection with a more powerful force can empower, enrich, and
inspire one’s life. The source of this
connection could be an individual, a group, a supreme deity, an idea, a
philosophy, or a calling to vocation such as the officer’s calling to the Army
profession.

This innate desire to connect with someone or
something more powerful than the individual serves an adaptive function because
it contributes to one’s sense of safety through physical and psychological
support and also serves to enhance one’s world-view by being a source of new
knowledge and inspiration for one’s life purpose.Being loved, valued and accepted by others
re-affirms one’s perceptions of self-worth and also contributes to feelings of
wholeness.Thus, individuals’ need to
seek connections with people, groups, ideas, or deities outside of their selves
help shape and develop their human spirits.[44]

The military profession has long
recognized the empowering benefits of a greater sense of confidence, safety,
and purpose gained from meeting soldiers’ innate need for affiliation.This is why the U.S. military places such
great emphasis on unit heritage, maintaining unit integrity, promoting selfless
service and teamwork, and demanding loyalty in terms of taking care of your
buddy and the unit.

For example, a soldier who has
established positive relationships (connections) with other members in the
squad has eight other people looking out for his safety and sharing the burdens
of combat, which boosts his sense of confidence and safety and also greatly
increases the soldier’s probability of survival.[45]In addition, the connection with others
provides a social support network to look out for his physical safety helping
the soldier deal with the fears and stresses of combat.

Through this social network a soldier can learn new knowledge about how
to deal with stress; express fears and other emotions; receive understanding,
acceptance, and validation for emotions experienced; learn combat survival
techniques; and, most important, learn new ways to make meaning out of
traumatic events.[46]The collective meaning-making that takes
place in social networks tends to enhance soldiers’ world-views.So, by forming these connections with other
soldiers and the group, each soldier gains a greater sense of confidence in
their own and the unit’s ability to successfully complete the mission and
survive.

Soldiers who fail to make
connections with others tend not to last long in combat zone.They either succumb to stress or they are
injured or killed early in their tours because they are not fully connected to
the social support system in the unit.[47]Most importantly, these connections between
soldiers serve as the primary source of motivation for them to fight.[48]This is why cohesion continues to play such a
critical role in individual and unit performance in combat.

Need
for Esteem. The innate need for
esteem plays a significant role in the development of a person’s sense of
agency and also impacts the development of one’s world-view.Maslow proposed that the innate need for
esteem entailed two interrelated components: self-esteem and gaining the esteem
of others.[49]Self-esteem consists of a person’s need to
feel that one has the ability to act independently to achieve life goals and to
handle life’s challenges.Thus
self-esteem is very important in the development of a sense of agency.Individuals who feel confident that they can
chart and master their own life journeys are more likely to assume the
responsibility for developing their human spirit.They will actively seek out and engage in
activities that will promote the development of their world-views.

On the other hand, people with low self-esteem are more likely to have a
lesser sense of agency regarding the development of their human spirit because
they do not feel that they have the ability to control their destiny.Individuals with low self-esteem are more apt
to let society and others influence the development their human spirit.

Receiving the esteem of others in
terms of praise, recognition, status, and appreciation provides external
verification of one’s abilities and worth to others.This validation of one’s value to others
enhances self-esteem and the sense of agency and facilitates positive emotions
and human flourishing.In addition, being
valued by others provides individuals with the sense that they are important
and their presence in the world makes a difference, which bolsters faith in
their developmental journey and their evolving world-views.[50]Soldiers must not only be imbued with such
personal esteem, but also pride and esteem in their unit, which promotes
cohesion and collective sense of purpose.

Need
to Know and Understand.The innate
human need to know and understand significantly contributes to the development
of a person’s world-view and need for safety.Individuals’ curiosity and desire to seek out and learn new knowledge
helps them gain a greater understanding of how the world works and how people
live in it, which adds to the complexity of their own world-view.In turn, a more complex world-view helps them
to perceive more orderliness, meaning, and predictability in both themselves
and the world, thus contributing to a greater sense of safety.

The innate need for knowledge and
understanding also contributes to individuals’ motivation to engage in
self-reflection and introspection with the hope of discovering insights about
themselves.This increased
self-awareness helps people answer life’s pressing questions concerning
identity, purpose, a worthy contribution, and how to achieve happiness.Lastly, the need for knowledge and
understanding plays a role in promoting a sense of agency in people to develop
their own essence and inner strength.Such people will likely attribute their knowledge seeking behaviors to
internal states, thus providing the perception of agency or self-directed
development.[51]Particularly during stressful times such as
combat, leaders and their soldiers must find a level of coherence, hence
heightening the innate need for understanding.

Need for Self-Actualization.Self-actualization is the highest level of Maslow’s
hierarchy.The need for
self-actualization contributes to the growth of the human spirit by motivating
people to develop themselves to become “who they must be” in order to have a
life that is meaningful and makes a difference.[52]Carl Rogers, a noted humanist psychologist,
proposes that the need for self-actualization is the “mainspring of life” that
propels people to seek out activities that cause them to grow, mature, and
become autonomous in their quest to reach their full human potential.[53]According to Rogers, to achieve
self-actualization a person must:(1)
determine his purpose in life; (2) live a responsible, moral, and
self-restrained life (positive values and beliefs system); (3) be confident to
initiate change to promote growth and independence (agency); (4) engage in
reflection to develop one’s self-awareness (introspection); (5) form
connections to sources outside of the self (affiliation); and, (6) learn to
enjoy the simple pleasures of life (achieving happiness).[54]Thus, according to the views of both Rogers
and Maslow, the innate drive towards self-actualization would develop a
person’s full human potential and, as well, one’s human spirit.

Self-actualization
is central to the identity of an officer and their development as a leader.We can refine discussion of the self-concept
by noting that leaders tend to envision both their current self, but also a more distant possible self
which they would like to become—their actualized self.[55]It is through envisioning, most likely by the
existence of a role model, and making lucid the “gaps” between the current and
possible-self that leaders will enact goal-directed motivation to develop and
achieve that possible self.It is
through such processes that the Army- and Academy-sanctioned identity and roles
of an officer will be internalized.

In as much as leaders and their followers envision a possible-self with
higher capabilities for faith, agency, self-awareness, social awareness and
empathy—a stronger human spirit as depicted in Figure 2-1—they will have
greater drive toward development in these areas.Returning to our earlier semantic
differentiation, we suggest that this drive and its developmental
manifestations will be experienced as a heightened sense of spirituality.

Experiencing the Development of
the Components of the Human Spirit

In the last
portion of this chapter, and in the appendices that follow, we present various
emotional, cognitive, and behavioral indicators of how the development of the
human spirit is manifested and experienced.The purpose is to assist cadets and their mentors to recognize and
assess the development of the human spirit as they proceed through the
forty-seven month experience at the Academy.Indeed, we believe this list should serve as a rudimentary “road map” to
chart the development of the human spirit and as milestones to chart their
progress toward their possible-self.Research has shown that development will occur through vicarious
learning such as observing role models and via modes of imagined
experience—having followers imagine themselves successfully engaging in
positive spiritual behaviors and achieving their own envisioned possible-self.[56]

More than likely multiple
indicators from each one of the three areas will apply; and the more indicators
that do apply, the greater the progress.[57]

Emotional Indicators.Development of the world-view manifests itself in feelings of safety, orderliness, and
peace.The growth of a more complex
world view provides individuals with a greater ability to predict and make
meaning out of their experiences.Thus,
events do not surprise and /or shock them as much as in the past and
individuals no longer feel naïve regarding how the world operates.The cornerstone to one’s feelings of safety
and peace is the feeling that one has the correct values and beliefs
(character) to function effectively in the world and to live a life that makes
a difference.As individuals see
progress becoming who they want to be and realizing their potential, they experience
a sense of well-being and contentment with life.Furthermore, individuals experience their sense of agency developing when they
feel a sense of empowerment to self-author their own values and beliefs and to
control their journey to develop their potential.Individuals feel they own and have control
over their destiny because they have the capability to create the lives they
seek.Growth in social awareness manifests itself with feelings that one has the
ability to read and understand other people, see the world from their point of
view, and make positive relationships with them.Such individuals feel a greater sense of
respect and appreciation for human life and also a greater sense of compassion
towards others.They feel that others
now enrich their own lives and aid them in their journey to develop their
essence.

Growth in self-awareness manifests itself in feelings that one is getting to
know and understand oneself better.Such
individuals are not afraid to reflect on and evaluate their inner lives because
they feel increasingly comfortable with who they are and what they want to
become.Finally, they experience their faith developing when they feel a strong
conviction that living a life based on one’s values and belief’s is right and
will lead to fulfillment even in spite of social pressures to live otherwise.

Cognitive Indicators.Individuals know that their world-view is developing when they
generally understand how the world operates, accepting the existence of both
good and evil.They become more open to,
and not threatened by new ideas, experiences, cultures, and beliefs.They develop a thirst for knowledge.Such individuals increasingly consider their own
values and beliefs when making decisions because their need to maintain integrity
to self outweighs the desire to meet the expectations of others. When this
occurs, individuals have the autonomy to control their journey to develop their
human essence.

Moreover, such individuals know
they are developing their self-awareness
when they regularly reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, their life
goals, and the progress they are making towards developing their
potential.They question and evaluate
their values and beliefs because they want to know truth.They reflect on experiences to make meaning
out of them and evaluate the implications for their world-view.The cognitive indicators of social awareness entail a greater
understanding of people and willingness to view others as individuals without
prejudice towards groups.One also
develops a greater understanding of the frailty of human nature resulting in a
greater sense of compassion and desire to help others (altruism).Individuals understand and accept that others
have a right to have different view-points, values, and beliefs, and that just
because these views are different, they are not necessarily wrong or bad.

Cognitive indicators of the
development of one’s sense of agency
are thinking routinely of activities to develop the spirit, monitoring progress
of the journey, and making adjustments as needed.Individuals know and accept that they are
fully responsible and largely in control of their own spiritual
development.As discussed earlier in the
emotional indicators, they feel a sense of autonomy to step away from the
expectations of others and pilot their own journey with an increasingly strong
belief, or faith, that the quest to
develop the spirit will lead to a meaningful, noble, and fulfilling life.Such a person more and more lives a principle
centered life, even in the face of social pressures to do otherwise, because
this is the right thing to do to be true to self.

Behavioral
Indicators.Individuals know that
their world-view is developing when
they find themselves behaving in a more authentic manner based on their own
values and beliefs.They engage
naturally in activities that promote learning about new subjects, people, and
cultures, such as reading about or experiencing different philosophical and
religious beliefs in a search to find truth.They realize their sense of agency
is growing the more they engage regularly in activities that help realize their
full potential.Likewise, their self-awareness is growing when they make
time routinely to engage in reflection and introspection, particularly of their
experiences, values, beliefs, and goals in life.This can take the form of journaling,
documenting life visions and goals, carrying-on internal, positive dialogues
with themselves, praying, or meditating on life questions.

Behavioral indicators of a
developing social awareness are
treating all people with respect, engaging in volunteerism to help others,
cooperating with difficult people, being more understanding and forgiving of
others, less judgmental, and more tolerant of other’s weaknesses.This greater social awareness is also
manifested in the formation of positive and cooperative relationships.Lastly, the main indicator of the
strengthening of an individuals’ faith is
the more consistent, daily striving to live a value based life, taking action
to follow one’s developmental journey despite the arduousness of the task—more
often doing “the harder right rather than the easier wrong,” as noted in the
Cadet Prayer.

Conclusion

By applying
a model for the domain of the human spirit, we believe cadets and the Academy’s
faculty and staff can achieve a needed level of commonality in understanding
and language regarding the development of the inner self.Individuals can understand what psychological
components and states are involved and how they interact as they develop (see
again Figure 2-1).These tools will
provide the ability to tailor individual developmental efforts, targeting
specific components of the human spirit and using applicable indicators to
track progress.

With diligent application of such
tools we believe that at least five outcomes are feasible, all clearly
supporting the development of commissioned leaders of character for the Army:

·An increased self-awareness by each leader, most
often enhancing the ability to understand and to self-author the values and
beliefs that define their character;

·An evolving world-view or personal life
philosophy that seeks truth and justice, appreciates diversity, and
continuously seeks out new experiences and knowledge to promote growth;

·A growing social awareness that fosters respect
for others’ view points and the ability to see and understand the world from
eyes of others, an attribute critical to understanding subordinates, allies,
and enemies;

·An empowered sense of control and responsibility
for one’s own being, existence, and development, thus fostering inner strength
and fortitude, and;

·A sense of conviction or faith that one is part
of a noble profession, providing intrinsic motivation to service and a
fulfilling life as an officer.

We have outlined spirituality as a
central facet of an officer’s existence and a key driving force in the behavior
and meaning-making systems of both leaders and followers—especially under
conditions that most try the human spirit, such as close combat.Development of the human spirit must
therefore be recognized as inextricable to any leader, or leadership,
development program.We propose such
development should be purposive and that it can be by application of this
model.

As stated earlier, the military
requires its members to have a strong inner strength to withstand the stresses
and rigors of combat and also to achieve psychological well-being; therefore, it
is absolutely imperative for military leaders to understand how to develop
their own human spirit and facilitate the moral journeys of their soldiers
toward full development of the Warrior Spirit.

[19] Ibid.,
94, and William McCoy, Under Orders: A
Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel, (Ozark, AL:
ACW Press, 2005), 173-174.

[20] Leader
to Leader Institute, Be-Know-Do:
Leadership the Army Way,
(San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2004), 26, and H.
Dale Burke, How to Lead and Still Have a
Life, (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2004), 63-64.